Nations standing up
England, Scots ride wave of confidence after early wins
Six Nations matches between England and France at Twickenham and Scotland and Ireland at Murrayfield need nothing to spice them up, but the fact that both games will be repeated as key pool fixtures at the Rugby World Cup does add a layer of intrigue.
England go into the game on Sunday riding a wave of confidence after their 32-20 victory in Dublin last weekend.
Buoyed particularly by the return of Mako and Billy Vunipola, England produced an all-round display of power, speed, aggression and finishing that would have sent shock waves through the camps of their rivals.
France, who blew a 16-0 halftime lead to lose 24-19 to Wales in Paris, would have already been outsiders, but England’s awesome performance makes the odds even shorter for the hosts.
France’s record at Twickenham is spectacularly bad, and nothing they have shown over the last couple of years suggests they have enough firepower or talent to find one of “those” French displays out of nowhere.
They have won one Six Nations game at Twickenham this century – in 2005 – and only two in the last 30 years.
The sides will meet again on October 12 in what should be the decisive match of their World Cup pool, which also includes Argentina, Tonga and the United States.
Ireland and Scotland also face off in Japan – in their opening pool game, where the potential reward for the winners is likely to be avoiding New Zealand in the quarterfinals.
Scotland have won two of their last three home Six Nations fixtures against Ireland, and a World Cup warm-up in 2011.
They looked very good for most of last week’s victory over Italy, albeit with a late Italian tryflurry making the 32-20 scoreline less one-sided.
Ireland, however, present a far more formidable hurdle.
Wales coach Warren Gatland, too, will have had his players poring over their ipads after their error-strewn first half in Paris. That they recovered via a tournament record turnaround to secure their 10th successive win was testament to their attitude – coupled with some gifts from the French on a sodden night.
They will fully expect to take that winning streak to a Welsh national record-equalling 11 in Rome, against an Italian team who look set to go without a victory for the fourth successive championship.